By Howard Wilkinson
Enquirer staff writer

Hospitals are stockpiling drugs to counter a possible bioterror attack. Grade-school kids are practicing lock-down drills, now as routine as recess.

And families are waiting and praying for the return of loved ones, serving in uniform in places with once-obscure names like Najaf and Fallujah, Iraq.

REMEMBERING 9/11

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Three years after terrorists attacked the nation, life has changed in ways big and small for many Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky families. From airport weapons checks to computerized medical monitors, some aspects of daily life might have been changed forever.

"What happened three years ago changed everything for me,'' Mia Supe of Union Township says. Her brother, Sgt. 1st Class Bobby Elliot, led a platoon in combat in Iraq last year.

Today, Supe mails care packages to at least 700 soldiers overseas. She and a friend also created a Web site (MilitarySupportConnection.com) to organize more aid for soldiers and their families.

"My life will never be the same," she says.

"And I will never take those who fight for my freedom for granted ever again.''

Here's what's changed for many of us since Sept. 11, 2001:

Military families

In the three years since President George W. Bush declared a global war on terrorism - opening fronts first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq - more than 2,000 men and women from this region have left civilian jobs and educational pursuits to serve overseas with the armed forces Reserves or National Guard.

Some, having been deployed twice, have spent more time in harm's way than they have at home in the past three years.

Of the more than 1,000 Americans killed in Iraq, five are from this area:

• Army Pfc. Marlin Rockhold, 23, Hamilton, killed by a sniper in May 2003.

• Army Sgt. Chad Keith, 21, Batesville, Ind., killed by a roadside bomb in July 2003.

• Army Spc. James C. Wright, 27, Delhi Township, killed in a firefight near Tikrit in September 2003.

• Army Sgt. Stephen Conover, 21, Wilmington, killed after his helicopter was downed by a missile in November 2003.

• Army Sgt. Charles Kiser, 37, of Cleveland, Wis., and an Amelia native, killed in a car bombing in June.

In Clermont County's Union Township, almost every street corner and utility pole is draped with a yellow ribbon, a symbol of hope for the safe return of Army Spc. Matt Maupin, the 21-year-old reservist who was kidnapped April 9 by Iraqi insurgents after his convoy was attacked.

It is difficult to find a city street, suburban drive or country lane in the region where there is not a young man or woman serving in the military overseas.

Debbie Griffith's two Marine sons, Steve and Brian, served in Iraq last year. Both returned home to Goshen Township this summer. Steve's enlistment ended shortly after that.

But two weeks ago, Brian's unit was sent back to Iraq for a second tour.

"I thought we were done with this,'' Debbie Griffith says. "I was really hoping so.''

Griffith belongs to a military support group for parents of servicemen and women that meets once a month in Blue Ash. The group has met since early 2002, when many of the group's sons and daughters were being sent to Afghanistan. Griffith and other parents are amazed at all the support for the troops, even among those who don't have sons and daughters serving.

Nobody has to look very far. Support is evident in the thousands of cars on Cincinnati-area streets and highways bearing magnetic yellow "Support Our Troops'' banners.

Public health

Since 9/11, the region's hospitals and public health departments have prepared for a possible nuclear, biological or chemical weapons attack.

Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky have received more than $2 million in federal grants, primarily from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The money has been spent in several key areas, says Colleen O'Toole, vice president of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council, which represents 33 hospitals in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. They include:

• Surveillance. A regional computer system now tracks every over-the-counter drug sale at local pharmacies. The computer is programmed to spot unusual surges that might signal a bioterror attack. Beginning in October, the system also will monitor local hospital emergency rooms. It will collect patient information including age, gender, home ZIP code, work ZIP code and primary medical complaint - all to spot surges in respiratory distress, gastrointestinal illness, skin rashes and other symptoms.

• Medications and vaccine stockpiles. Hospitals have stocked up on pharmaceutical supplies to protect their employees and families in case of an attack. Health officials also have created a regional stockpile of medications and vaccines to give to the public. Distribution sites have been identified in Ohio and Kentucky. This stockpile is in addition to supplies that could come from national stockpiles.

• Mutual-aid agreements. Hospitals have updated plans for backing each other up during a terror attack.

• Public health. Public health departments have helped hospitals identify alternative care sites. "If there's a large attack, we can't all go to a hospital," O'Toole says. To protect against smallpox, public health officials have administered the smallpox vaccine to hospital workers, police, fire and other emergency personnel. Also, new Ohio quarantine laws give local health commissioners more power to confine people during a public health emergency.

• Training. Hospitals have held countless joint training exercises with police, fire and public health agencies.

Cincinnati health commissioner Malcolm Adcock says one of the biggest changes he has seen in the past three years is the perception of public health departments "as part of the first-responder team.''

"We've always been prepared to respond,'' Adcock says. "But now we are there at the planning table, along with the police and the firefighters and the rest.''

Airport security

Airline passengers began seeing the changes at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, when the airport reopened after being temporarily shut down.

Today, lines can still be long. It's not unusual to take an hour to get through security.

One sight not seen three years ago is passengers walking through metal detectors in their stocking feet, with their shoes going through the X-ray machine.

Overall, the airport employs the equivalent of 315 full-time, federally employed and trained screeners and is authorized to hire 336. This is a far cry from the days before and immediately after 9/11, when the airlines contracted with private companies to provide fewer than 200 screeners locally.

Unlike pre-9/11, almost every bag checked locally is also electronically scanned for bombs by one of 11 explosive detection machines working behind the scenes.

Officials with the Transportation Security Administration are seeking up to $8 million to automate the process. Paul Wisniewski, who became head of the local agency in May, says automation would make the operation more efficient, and potentially safer.

One thing hasn't changed much, Wisniewski said. Passengers still carry prohibited items through security checkpoints. Screeners locally have found four guns this year, including one in August. In addition, each month, an average of 500 pounds of contraband, ranging from blow torches to filled gas cans to knives, are seized.

School safety

Security measures at local schools have been shored up since 9/11, too.

Following the attacks, Madison Local Schools instituted a safety plan with input from the staff and emergency agencies in Butler County.

Teacher Brooke Coulter (left) listens as school nurse Mary Fose explains the contents of the Shelter In Place emergency supply box at Madison Int. School in Butler Co. (Enquirer photo/)

"We took almost that whole year to create an emergency plan that was more than just a binder on the shelf," Supt. Jan Kesselring says.

Now, "go" bags in every room include a class roster, first-aid items, trash bags and pads to stop excessive bleeding. Classrooms also have an emergency supply of trash cans, trash can liners, toilet paper, crackers, water, cups, flashlights and plastic bags.

In an emergency, teachers will hold up a green card if all kids are accounted for, and a red one if there is a missing student or some problem. The principal will be able to see quickly if all classes are safe and intact.

At Wildwood Elementary in Middletown, students practice lock-down drills, and every teacher has a walkie talkie just in case.

At Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, students may carry cell phones for emergencies, but they have to be turned off during the school day.

At Roger Bacon High School in St. Bernard, officials have installed protective glass doors inside the front entrance. The doors are locked once classes begin. Guests must ring a doorbell and identify themselves to a receptionist via intercom. All guests must receive a visitor's badge at the main office.

And at Goshen schools, new and renovated school buildings have security cameras. The district also employs an evening security guard.

Not all changes are about security. In the Forest Hills School District, students used to say the Pledge of Allegiance weekly. After 9/11, the school board directed schools to have students recite the pledge every day.

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Matt Leingang, James Pilcher, Cindy Kranz, and Sue Kiesewetter contributed to this report. E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com